The pandemic COVID-19 has led to more global focus than just about any other event in the past century. Since its beginning, it has been the subject of intense study, with scientists worldwide striving to find a way to maintain our safety. This endless campaign has led to the discovery of important facts about the disease, some of which are concerning. One such discovery was that some children don’t exhibit symptoms while infected with COVID-19.
The Occurrence of Asymptomatic COVID in Children
Understanding the appearance of asymptomatic COVID in children may seem an odd topic for a dental office. However, it’s essential that patients and dentists alike remain vigilant to ensure the protection of their patients. Children with COVID that are not demonstrating symptoms remain capable of spreading it to others. Accomplishing this goal requires that children are regularly checked for COVID even if they’re not showing symptoms. If you’re scheduling your child for an appointment with their dentist, consider taking the following steps.
- Use an over-the-counter test within three days of their appointment.
- Maintain mask-wearing and social distancing outside the home.
- Ensure they wash their hands frequently to discourage the spread of the disease.
- Ensure children receive all vaccinations and boosters as soon as possible.
- Take advantage of teledentistry services from your dentist.
COVID has shown itself to be incredibly devastating and tenacious. Through countless medical professionals’ work, we’ve developed effective vaccines that are slowing its advance. Its ability to mutate means that the war against it is not yet over. So far, the progress has been greatly reduced by those who refused to follow government guidelines on masking and vaccination. The more people who contract the disease, the more opportunity it has to produce mutated variants.
To date, the new variants haven’t been worse than their predecessors, outside of being more contagious. However, the longer the disease goes without being properly controlled, the greater the risk of a more dangerous variant coming out of it. It’s for this reason that the CDC continues to track the progress of the disease and continues to investigate its properties. You can help by checking your child for COVID regularly and keeping their vaccinations up to date.
Ensuring your child is vaccinated is important to protect them and their community. Those who are vaccinated not only contract the disease less often but develop less severe symptoms when they do. This is due to the reduced virus count that occurs in those who are vaccinated. This reduced virus count also serves to limit the opportunity it has to mutate.
Contact Your Dentist For Their Guidelines on COVID
The impact of the COVID pandemic has been felt everywhere. Many clinics are establishing new guidelines that persist past the pandemic’s end. Make sure you check in with them to determine what they’re doing to protect their patients. Together we can guarantee that the COVID-19 pandemic becomes a thing of the past for good.
